Low scores on practice tests.. should I reschedule??

[soxinabox90]

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Hello,

I've been studying for the DAT for the last 3 weeks and have just begun taking practice tests. It's been 3 years since I took biology, chemistry, and organic chem so I've had to relearn pretty much everything. I still have 11 days (July 11th) before the test so I could really buckle down and study hard, but I don't know if I'll be ready. My goal is to get an AA and PAT of at least 20.

My study materials include Chad's videos, DAT Destroyer, Math Destroyer, Cliff's AP Bio, DAT Bootcamp.

What can I do to improve my scores and do you think it's worth rescheduling?? I ran out of time on the QR, reading, and PAT sections on the DAT achiever test. And ran out of time on the QR section of topscore.

6/28 DAT Achiever test 1 Bio 14/GC 18/OC 19/QR 17/RC 18/PAT 16/TS 17
6/29 ADA 2007 test Bio 21/GC 20/OC 19/QR 23/RC 25/PAT 19/TS 20
6/30 Topscore test 1 Bio 17/GC 18/OC 18/QR 18/RC 22/PAT 19/TS 18

 

[jz123]

if you think you are only like 60% ready, then reschedule because you rather spend an extra month studying then having to wait another 3 months to retake the exam, right?

 

[htorres89]

I wouldn't reschedule. I am taking my DAT in 10 days and my scores are on par with yours. You have a lot of time to to bring this up more. Just make sure you are learning and reviewing your mistakes. I am pretty confident you will get at least a 20 if you don't slack and continue practicing.

 

[Kyle198]

How do you study the reading part, looks you ace the reading section.

 

[tccheng91]

You are not going to feel ready until you are actually done with the test. That was how I felt. Figure out some strategies that work best for you. For PAT, I did the types of questions that I was good at first. For QR, I did the easy questions first and then came back to more difficult ones.
I think it is very important to go back to the questions from your practice tests and figure out how you got them wrong and then go to the study materials if necessary.

 

[okiedokeartichoke]

I've heard that Achiever is notoriously difficult compared to the real exam, so do not get discouraged from those test scores alone.

 

[Polkadotfan]

I scored a 16 on Bio about 8 days before my actual test. I studied my butt off and pulled a 22. I would look at what you missed on the sections and watch youtube videos 2x speed to really get an overview of the stuff.
I was so nervous before taking my DAT. I agree you will never feel good. QVault tests helped me with Bio because I had so many to do. BC helped because their wording of the questions makes you think.

 

[wengerout]

Don't push it off. About two weeks ago I was starting to feel ready until I took the 2009 DAT and got a 16 on the O-Chem section. I dropped everything and studied O-Chem day and night while mixing in my other subjects and scored a 25 on the real thing. It's possible but you're going to have to push yourself to levels you didn't know were possible.

 

[Alikhan9]

Don't push it off. About two weeks ago I was starting to feel ready until I took the 2009 DAT and got a 16 on the O-Chem section. I dropped everything and studied O-Chem day and night while mixing in my other subjects and scored a 25 on the real thing. It's possible but you're going to have to push yourself to levels you didn't know were possible.

How so?

 

[wengerout]

How so?

In those two weeks I finished O-Chem destroyer (Honestly don't think it helped that much for my score but worth the run), redid every O-Chem question in bootcamp twice, read through every test in Q-Vault, and watched half of Chad's O-Chem videos again. I was quite literally living O-Chem as I am also taking O-Chem 2 right now. It sucked, but was well worth the score. I would recommend suffering for the two odd weeks vs. pushing off the test, especially if you are anything like me and started burning out on the subjects you had already mastered.

 

[soxinabox90]

Update: Still scheduled to take the test July 11th (2 days)

I've been studying for 6-8 hours every day this week. Took the BC test 4 2 days ago and the ADA 2009 test today.

BC 4 Bio 21/GC 22/OC 19/QR 18/RC 22/PAT 18/TS 19
ADA 2009 Bio 22/GC 21/OC 18/QR 16/RC 21/PAT 20/TS 20

I had about 10 minutes to spare on the science section of the 2009 test and feel like if I had gone back and checked my answers that I could have gotten a 21 TS.

I'm really nervous about this because I want to score at least 20AA 20PAT (ideally more than 20, but I would be happy with a 20). My overall GPA is about 3.45 and I am really hoping to get accepted this cycle.

What do you guys think? Is it worth rescheduling for a couple weeks from now?

 

[Charles_Darwin]

Update: Still scheduled to take the test July 11th (2 days)

I've been studying for 6-8 hours every day this week. Took the BC test 4 2 days ago and the ADA 2009 test today.

BC 4 Bio 21/GC 22/OC 19/QR 18/RC 22/PAT 18/TS 19
ADA 2009 Bio 22/GC 21/OC 18/QR 16/RC 21/PAT 20/TS 20

I had about 10 minutes to spare on the science section of the 2009 test and feel like if I had gone back and checked my answers that I could have gotten a 21 TS.

I'm really nervous about this because I want to score at least 20AA 20PAT (ideally more than 20, but I would be happy with a 20). My overall GPA is about 3.45 and I am really hoping to get accepted this cycle.

What do you guys think? Is it worth rescheduling for a couple weeks from now?

Your scores look good (2009 QR is hard in general), I think you'll certainly get a 20+ AA! The only thing that could inhibit you from that score is your nerves. If I had those practice scores I would feel ready to get at least a 20/21 AA - don't study for more than 3ish hours tomorrow (look over some cheat sheets or w/e). Spend time relaxing and getting hype 🙂

 

[soxinabox90]

Well, actually I just looked at the prometric website and I can't reschedule because the weekend isn't considered business days! The only thing I can really do is get hyped and confident

 

[Polkadotfan]

That's half the battle! Go see a movie and relax (that's what I did haha) and don't freak out if you can! Good luck!!

 

[soxinabox90]

If anyone was wondering.. I took the DAT today! It looks like my long days in the library paid off as I was not expecting a 24AA AT ALL! I'm so happy haha.

Real DAT scores: Bio 23/GC 26/OC 24/QR 23/RC 24/PAT 20/TS 24/AA 24

Everyone on these forums have been super helpful so.. thank you for all the insight!

 

[DMikes]

If anyone was wondering.. I took the DAT today! It looks like my long days in the library paid off as I was not expecting a 24AA AT ALL! I'm so happy haha.

Saturday I saw a movie, Sunday I went to the strip club, this morning I drank a red bull, did 100 jumping jacks, reviewed my notes for a couple hours, and drank another red bull during my test break. Woo!!

Real DAT scores: Bio 23/GC 26/OC 24/QR 23/RC 24/PAT 20/TS 24/AA 24

Everyone on these forums have been super helpful so.. thank you for all the insight!

You did awesome! Congrats!

 

[Charles_Darwin]

If anyone was wondering.. I took the DAT today! It looks like my long days in the library paid off as I was not expecting a 24AA AT ALL! I'm so happy haha.

Saturday I saw a movie, Sunday I went to the strip club, this morning I drank a red bull, did 100 jumping jacks, reviewed my notes for a couple hours, and drank another red bull during my test break. Woo!!

Real DAT scores: Bio 23/GC 26/OC 24/QR 23/RC 24/PAT 20/TS 24/AA 24

Everyone on these forums have been super helpful so.. thank you for all the insight!

YESS. Awesome job OP, very glad you did well! This is why I love SDN

 

[jws95]

My test is tomorrow and my BC scores are similar to yours. This gives me hope!! Great job!

 

[soxinabox90]

edit

 

[soxinabox90]

My test is tomorrow and my BC scores are similar to yours. This gives me hope!! Great job!

Don't worry, I thought the real test was much easier than the BC exams! You'll do great!